A British court may soon take on the monumental task of deciding whether it’s OK to charge a 5-year-old a no-show fee for missing a birthday party.
Alex Nash of Torpoint, England, was set to attend the party just before Christmas, but backed out when his parents remembered that he was supposed to spend the day with his grandparents.
Derek Nash and Tanya Walsh claim they had no contact information for Julie Lawrence, mother of the birthday boy.
Then last week, the couple found a brown envelope in their son’s school bag. Inside was an invoice from Lawrence for £15.95 (nearly $29). Derek Nash told reporters that Lawrence claimed Alex’s failure to attend the party left her out of pocket, and that she would take the parents to small claims court for refusing to pay. Nash said Alex’s school confirmed that one of the teachers put the envelope in his bag, and apologized for their involvement. He then confronted the mother directly at home. “I told her I would not be paying her the money. I told her she should have spoken to me first and not put the invoice in my son’s school bag,” he told the Telegraph.
“I would have sympathized with her about the cost of Alex not showing up, but I just can’t believe the way she has gone around it.” Nash and Walsh did not return the Star’s requests for comment. Lawrence has said almost nothing publicly about the affair. In a short statement to several outlets, she said: “All details were on the party invite. They had every detail needed to contact me.
” The story has gone viral, with the BBC feeling it necessary to inform people of the rules of children’s birthday party etiquette, and getting its legal correspondent to comment on the case. Clive Coleman said it is “all but impossible” for Lawrence to recoup the costs in court, writing that “a child’s party invitation would not create legal relations with either the child ‘guest’ or its parents.” The invoice also led to a row in the great virtual schoolyard of social media, with Lawrence and Walsh facing off against each other on Facebook.
The conversation was — undoubtedly gleefully — quoted in full by British media. Walsh: “If I had known that I would have to pay if Alex did not go, then I would have paid you the money, no problem. I do not like fighting with people, and would prefer to settle this amicably.”
Lawrence: “I don’t like fighting with people either, and was not best impressed when Derek turned up on my doorstep, and said you won’t get any money out of me, rather rudely. I do admit it rattled me.”
Then last week, the couple found a brown envelope in their son’s school bag. Inside was an invoice from Lawrence for £15.95 (nearly $29). Derek Nash told reporters that Lawrence claimed Alex’s failure to attend the party left her out of pocket, and that she would take the parents to small claims court for refusing to pay. Nash said Alex’s school confirmed that one of the teachers put the envelope in his bag, and apologized for their involvement. He then confronted the mother directly at home. “I told her I would not be paying her the money. I told her she should have spoken to me first and not put the invoice in my son’s school bag,” he told the Telegraph.
“I would have sympathized with her about the cost of Alex not showing up, but I just can’t believe the way she has gone around it.” Nash and Walsh did not return the Star’s requests for comment. Lawrence has said almost nothing publicly about the affair. In a short statement to several outlets, she said: “All details were on the party invite. They had every detail needed to contact me.
” The story has gone viral, with the BBC feeling it necessary to inform people of the rules of children’s birthday party etiquette, and getting its legal correspondent to comment on the case. Clive Coleman said it is “all but impossible” for Lawrence to recoup the costs in court, writing that “a child’s party invitation would not create legal relations with either the child ‘guest’ or its parents.” The invoice also led to a row in the great virtual schoolyard of social media, with Lawrence and Walsh facing off against each other on Facebook.
The conversation was — undoubtedly gleefully — quoted in full by British media. Walsh: “If I had known that I would have to pay if Alex did not go, then I would have paid you the money, no problem. I do not like fighting with people, and would prefer to settle this amicably.”
Lawrence: “I don’t like fighting with people either, and was not best impressed when Derek turned up on my doorstep, and said you won’t get any money out of me, rather rudely. I do admit it rattled me.”
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